Empowering Partner Villages in Preventing Early Marriage as a Sustainable Effort to Prevent Stunting through the Healthy and Decent Housing Program (RUSELA)
Keywords:
early marriage, stunting, community empowerment, healthy and decent housing, RUSELAAbstract
Early marriage is a contributing factor to the increased risk of stunting through teenage pregnancy, low reproductive readiness, and limited knowledge in child care and nutrition. These issues require a sustainable community empowerment approach involving various stakeholders at the village level. This community service activity aims to empower partner villages to prevent early marriage as a sustainable effort to prevent stunting through the Healthy and Decent Homes Program (RUSELA). Implementation methods include outreach and education on adolescent reproductive health, maturing marriage age, stunting prevention, training on the application of healthy and decent home indicators, and mentoring for adolescents, families, and health cadres. Evaluation was conducted using pretests and posttests on 38 respondents, accompanied by observation and monitoring of community participation. The evaluation results showed an increase in the average knowledge score of participants from 61.8 in the pretest to 86.5 in the posttest, an increase of 40.0%. A total of 34 respondents (89.5%) experienced an increase in knowledge scores after participating in the activity. In addition, there was an increase in understanding of the risks of early marriage, the importance of preventing stunting from adolescence, and community awareness of creating a healthy and decent home environment to support child growth and development. This program also resulted in a joint commitment between the village government, cadres, and the community to integrate the RUSELA Program into village development activities as a sustainable community empowerment model to support the acceleration of stunting reduction.
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